There is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings.
The exhilaration of flying is too keen, the pleasure too great, for it to be neglected as a sport.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Taking Advantage

We haven't had many good flying days. Winter weather and snow packed fields have kept me grounded most of the time, but there have been a few opportunities to get airborne.

Last week I departed 7N8, headed north to ETX and out V30 toward KZER. It was a great exercise to get out of the local area and play with the VOR. Everything worked well (NAV SRC is a GREEN light, not red like the GPS). A touch & go at Zerby and a short trip back home with 3 full stop landings made for a great trip.

I was over booked with work this week and suddenly an afternoon opened up. The weather was great so I had to take advantage of it, but I didn't have a 'plan'. However I had just been reading about short field landings over an obstacle and decided to see what 4PS could do. The real trick here is to finesse speed control at the lower end, close to Vso. Nice workout. (45kts seems to be about right.)

I also went over to Bally Spring Farm for a low approach. Shorter than 7N8, it sits down in a "bowl" and the GPS squawked "pull up!" the whole time in the pattern. Nothing I couldn't get into or out of, but this was one place that requires quite a bit of respect.

I also tested the 180 degree option on the autopilot. If a pilot pushes his luck and gets into bad weather, he can press and hold the autopilot button and the plane will execute a level 180 degree turn. Nice.

In other activity, I just got a letter from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Enforcement, Planning, Analysis and Discovery (The Discovery Division). They would like a check for 6% sales tax on N674PS. (8% if I live in Philly.) I previously investigated trying to register the aircraft in Delaware to avoid the sales tax...AOPA Lawyers and other tax accountants said that was a myth..."if the property or services subsequently are used, consumed, or stored in Pennsylvania" 104-31.7.

I also passed my 2nd class medical. That's something I might be able to take advantage of in the future.

1 comment:

Let's try this again! Congrats on the 2nd class medical. I'm giving it some thought again, if I chase the commercial rating.

Love the autopiloit feature....for once someone was thinking ahead. Good to see you out flying, lets hope the wx breaks and we can resume normal flight activities.

A side note....for some reason the link I have on my blog was taking me to one of your posts. I'll get that corrected. I have some catch up reading to do on all your postings, at least I'll have something interesting to do at work today :)